QuestionQUESTION: I have been on this medicine for a number of years and in the last year or so I have only taken 10mg a day and now only 10mg every other day. I am 52 and 6ft tall and weigh 180 lbs. I am in pretty good health and not really anxious anymore so I have been trying to ween myself off this medicine forever.Since I take on 10mg's every other day and have been for several months.. should I expect to have any side effects from total withdrawal of such a small amount of this med? I really would like to get off of it forever.Anything you can tell me would be greatly appreciated and than you in advance. Michael
ANSWER: this medicine is like Xanax, or Valium, or Ativan, or Klonipen. It is a sedative/anti-anxiety medicine. You have built up tolerance and a physical dependence. (this is separate from addiction)
The amount of dependence varies from person to person. This is a small dose and I would try to simply stop it and see if you have any anxiety or problems sleeping. You don't have to worry about severe reactions like seizures, etc. This drug has a long duration in the body, so you might not appreciate withdrawal symptoms for several days.
If you do get uncomfortable symptoms that you can't put up with, then a further slow wean is the way to go..... 5 mg every other day for a couple months, then decrease.
Good luck with it.
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QUESTION: I stopped taking the 10 mg on the 11th after I received your reply. It is now the 26th and I only have taken one on an occasion I was a little nervous about thinking about being off of the drug and well gave in and took one pill.So far it seems that things are ok. I did a little reading on the physical dependence that you mentioned and got a little worried but other than getting nervous that one day I think everything is going to be ok.I was curious as to what you think since I have been off of it since the 11th.Do you think I will suffer any further withdrawal symptoms .I guess what im asking is "Do you think that I could be affected in any other way since its been this long? I appreciate your answer and thank you again in advance.Michael
Answerby the physical dependence... part of that is the feeling of "nervous." If you want off the medicine completely, then you need to stop and you may have that nervous feeling for a few months. It takes 6 months to a year for the brain to go back to normal completely.
If you take one now and then, there isn't anything wrong with that if you need it... that is certainly easier than stopping completely. It just raises the risk of increasing the dose slowly over time to every day.
Effects in other ways? Not really.... with high dose there can be a lot of shaking or seizures but this low dose of librium, you will just have some anxiety or some sleeplessness.
Good luck with it.
